Chapter 2
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As the Doctor leaned over me and shined the little pen light in my eyes, I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose.
I knew it was rude, but I really couldn't help it. The woman smelled…bad. I wasn't even sure if smell was the right word as the 'scent' seemed to bypass my nose entirely, almost like I was smelling it with my entire body rather than my nostrils. Trying to hold my breath didn't do anything to stop it.
As stupid as it sounded, it smelled like what fear and anxiety felt like. I swore I could feel a ghost of those emotions in the back of my mind. As if somewhere deep down, I myself was feeling anxious and afraid. I didn't like it, not one bit.
It only took me a few moments of thought to decide not to mention my ability to smell emotions. With how the smell fluctuated in strength whenever she kept stealing glances at my wings, it was pretty clear what was causing her fear. The less I gave them to compare me to the Simurgh, the better.
"Hmmm. No response."
"What?"
"Your eyes, they aren't responding to the light at all."
"Oh…that's bad right?" I'd had enough optometry visits to know that much at least.
She stopped shining the light in my eyes and sat back. "Normally, yes. Eyes need to dilate and contract to control how much light reaches the cones, and not being able to would normally be a precursor to a more serious medical issue. But since you're a new parahuman…" She trailed off with a shrug. "For all I know that could be entirely normal for you. I simply don't have enough data to come to any proper diagnosis. Did you feel any abnormal discomfort when I shined the light in your eyes, any extra sensitivity perhaps?"
I shook my head. "No?" If anything my eyes were in better shape than before I triggered. I had no clue where my glasses even were at the moment, yet my vision seemed crisper than they had even been. She was seated a fair distance away from me yet I felt as though I could count her individual eyelashes if I tried. Even as the idle thought entered my head, her eyelashes suddenly sprang up to fill my vision.
Something must have shown in my expression or body language as she quickly realized I wasn't paying attention to her. "What's wrong?" The smell wafting off of her suddenly spiked in intensity.
"Nothing!" I was quick to reassure her. "I just found out my eyes could zoom in and out." I said in wonder as I examined the room with new eyes. Watching in rapt attention as a tiny spider in the corner spun its intricate web.
The majesty of even the smallest of God's children was breathtaking. I studiously ignored the distinctly alien thought and just tried to enjoy playing with my new vision.
"Ah." She made a note in her papers then continued her tests. Her scent going back down to their original levels.
Though the reprieve didn't last for long as the smell once again ramped up as she peered into my ears through the little ear light thingy. "You have the cleanest ears I've ever seen." She muttered as she swapped to the other ear. "I don't see even a hint of earwax."
I had to bite my tongue to stop my almost insulted 'Of course not'. There was no reason for me to respond like that. It was just my surprisingly vain powers speaking. I had to physically remind myself that people had ear wax. That I had ear wax. It was a normal thing.
For a human. A little voice whispered in the back of my mind. A little voice that I promptly german suplexed into a box labeled 'Nope'. I wasn't going there.
"Oh really?" I still sounded a bit too snippy, but it was better than my initial response.
Everything after that went pretty normal until we got to the part where she tried to check my heart rate.
Apparently I don't have one. Or at the very least, her instruments couldn't pick one up, nor could she when she tried feeling for a pulse. But since I wasn't currently in a morgue, I could only assume I either didn't need one or it was just shy.
Probably the second one. I smiled at my stupid joke, earning myself a strange look from the Doctor.
When the needle came out, I almost scoffed aloud in contempt. I couldn't help myself, the Doctor honestly believed that such a mundane piddly thing could pierce my flesh? How I was so confident, I couldn't say, but regardless I watched on unsurprised as the needle bent upon my skin. The next three needles meeting the same inglorious end.
No creation of Man would dare to harm me.
"Well, I guess that about sums up your physical. That's a lot more question marks than I'm comfortable with, but that's par the course when it comes to parahumans." She sighed. "I assume you're not currently dying?"
She made eye contact with me as she shrugged helplessly at the situation.
'God, why did I even bother with med school? "I assume you're not currently dying?" Ugh, that was so stupid!' The Doctor grumbled to herself as she turned to leave the room.
I flinched and stared at her retreating back in growing horror.
That was undoubtedly her voice… but her lips hadn't been moving.
"Ms. Hebert?" The man in the ceiling returned shortly after the Doctor left. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Genuine.
I opened my mouth to assure him that nothing was wrong and that I was fine. "No! I'm a telepath!"
"...what?" His voice was flat now, completely devoid of the warm concern he had projected earlier.
I tried to lie, to take back my stupid slip up. Perhaps claim it was some sort of messed up prank. "I'm a telepath, oh fork, I don't wanna die. Please don't kill me!"
I didn't mean to say any of that! I was trying to lie, gosh darn it! Why couldn't I lie?!
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AN: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16).